Debt Collection, Garnishment, Repossession

questions & answers

Question: I lost my job and now only get social security. Can credit cards garanshee my social security? Can These credit card companies take my cars, I have two old ones. Thank you

Answer: Here is a great article about wage garnishment. The short answer is NO, Social Security is exempt from wage garnishment, even if the creditor has a court order. There are exceptions, which include child/spousal support and federal taxes.

This is the website with the full article...
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/1157/can-creditor-garnish-my-social-security-benefits-pay-debt.html

Here is another website which talks about wage garnishment rules in Arizona.
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/arizona-wage-garnishment-laws.html

So, first the creditor needs to go to court and have a garnishment order in place and according to the Federal Law (which Arizona follows) "Of your nonexempt disposable earnings, creditors can only take the lessor of the following:

    25% of your non-exempt weekly earnings, or
    the amount of your non-exempt weekly earnings that exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage."

The creditor may put liens (defined as "a right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged") on your vehicles but they could not take them (unless you defaulted on the loans for the vehicles, which would be a repossession) without some kind of court order, which doesn't sound like a court would grant such an order.

I would recommend you speak with an attorney with some understanding of consumer affairs or bankruptcy.